A Rapid Method for the Determination of Temperature Abuse of Fresh Broiler Chicken

Abstract

Ready-to-cook broiler chicken carcasses were obtained immediately postchill from a commercial processing plant. A control group was held at 4 C for 10 days. Test groups were held at 4 C for 2 days, temperature abused at 10, 15, or 20 C for 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, or 24 h, and then held at 4 C for an additional 4 days. Both control and test birds were sampled using whole carcass rinse techniques and bacteria enumerated using impedance detection times (DT) and total plate count (TPC) techniques at incubation temperatures of 18 and 42 C. The DT and TPC showed a significant increase (P < .05) in the number of organisms recovered at 18 C but did not show a significant increase (P < .05) in organisms recovered at 42 C when carcasses were held at 4 C continuously for up to 10 days. Carcasses that were temperature abused at 10 C for up to 24 h were not significantly different (P < .05) from the unabused controls, using either DT or TPC, following incubation at 18 and 42 C. At an incubation temperature of 18 C, carcasses abused at 15 or 20 C had significantly more growth of bacteria than controls at 1, 6, 12, and 24 h and 4, 8, and 12 h as determined by DT and at 6, 12, and 24 h and 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 h, respectively, as determined by TPC. Carcasses abused at 15 or 20 C were different from controls at 12 and 24 h and 4, 8, and 12 h, respectively, using DT, and at 12 and 24 h and after 2 h, respectively, using TPC, upon incubation at 42 C. These data suggest that carcasses abused at 15 C for 12 h or 20 C for as little as 4 h can be differentiated from carcasses not subjected to temperature abuse.